Sangamon Sun

Fox River Grove School District 3 Board of Education met April 29.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

I. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Superintendent Tim Mahaffy called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

II. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

Members present were Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Tom Mollet, Kristine Hester, Sara Brubacher and Gerry Blohm. Also present were Superintendent Dr. Tim Mahaffy and Principals Dr. Sandy Ozimek and Mrs. Jessica McKenzie and Director of Special Education, Mrs. Heather Trom. Absent was Board member Devin Bright.

III. WELCOME TO VISITORS, GUESTS, COMMENTS & QUESTIONS

The Board welcomed Melissa Brennan, Jen Arendt, Paulette Nichols, Joe Bartkus (Henry Brothers) and Fred Schuster (Wold Ruck Pate) to the meeting.

No one signed in to address the Board.

IV. APPROVE RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING RESULTS OF ELECTION HELD ON APRIL 2, 2019

Dr. Mahaffy recommended the adoption of the Resolution proclaiming the results of the election held on April 2nd, 2019 to the Board of Education. Dr. Mahaffy read the Resolution in full. The Certificate of Canvass Results/Election Results was canvassed on 4/18/2019 by the McHenry County Clerk. Three individuals ran for the three, 4-year terms which will expire in 2023: Gerry Blohm received 370 votes, Thomas Mollet received 372 votes, and Melissa Brennan received 347 votes.

A motion to approve the Resolution Proclaiming the Results of the Election for the Board of Education held on April 2, 2019 was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Sara Brubacher. A voice vote was taken. Voting aye – All ayes. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

V. ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE

There being no further business to come before this Board, a motion for adjournment Sine Die was presented. A motion to adjourn Sine Die was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Kristine Hester. A voice call vote was taken. Voting aye – All ayes. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

REORGANIZATION OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

VI. SELECT PRESIDENT PRO TEM AND SECRETARY PRO TEM

A motion to select Superintendent Dr. Tim Mahaffy as President Pro Tem and Lois Bowman as Secretary Pro Tem until the new president is elected and the secretary is appointed was made by Gerry Blohm and seconded by Steve Pickering. A voice vote was taken. Voting aye – All ayes. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

VII. OATH OF OFFICE

President Pro Tem Dr. Tim Mahaffy instructed the newly elected and re-elected Board members to read out loud the Fox River Grove School District 3 Oath of Office. The newly elected Board members – Melissa Brennan, Thomas Mollet and Gerry Blohm -- read in unison the Oath of Office.

Congratulations was extended to these Board members.

Dr. Mahaffy met earlier with newly elected Board member, Melissa Brennan, to do a brief board orientation and to bring her up to date on the facilities project and other pertinent items. There will be required Board member training for all three Board members.

VIII. CALL TO ORDER

Board President Pro Tem Dr. Tim Mahaffy called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

IX. ROLL CALL

Members present were Steve Pickering, Melissa Brennan, Tom Mollet, Kristine Hester, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm and Laura Byrd.

X. RECOGNITION OF RESIGNING BOARD MEMBER

Board President Devin Bright was recognized at the April 15th, 2019 Board Meeting. We definitely appreciated his 10 years of service on the Board.

XI. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Board President Pro Tem Dr. Tim Mahaffy stated that nominations were now in order for the Office of President and Vice President. Any member of the Board may nominate any other member, and nominations do not require a second. Dr. Mahaffy stated that per Board Policy 2:110 both of these terms will be for 2 years.

Board member Tom Mollet nominated Kristine Hester for the Office of President.

President Pro Tem Dr. Tim Mahaffy stated that Kristine Hester has been nominated as President and asked if there were any other nominations for the Office of President.

The President Pro Tem asked a second time if there are any other nominations for the Office of President.

Board member Steve Pickering nominated Gerry Blohm for the Office of President.

President Pro Tem Dr. Tim Mahaffy stated that Gerry Blohm has also been nominated as President and asked if there were any other nominations for the Office of President.

President Pro Tem asked a second and third time if there were any other nominations for the Office of President to which there was no response. Dr. Mahaffy stated that if there are no further nominations, nominations for the Office of President are closed.

Dr. Mahaffy stated that since there were multiple nominations for the Office of President a roll call vote will be conducted. The individuals who were nominated will not vote and all other members should only vote once.

By a roll call vote all in favor of Kristine Hester for the Office of President: voting aye – Melissa Brennan, Tom Mollet, Sara Brubacher, Laura Byrd and Steve Pickering. Abstaining – Kristine Hester and Gerry Blohm.

By a roll call vote all in favor of Gerry Blohm for the Office of President: voting aye – none. Voting nay – Tom Mollet, Sara Brubacher, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering and Melissa Brennan. Abstaining – Kristine Hester and Gerry Blohm.

Kristine Hester received five votes and Gerry Blohm received no votes.

President Pro Tem Tim Mahaffy stated that Kristine Hester received the majority of the votes cast and is elected President.

Board President Kristine Hester stated that nominations were now in order for the Office of Vice President. Any member of the Board may nominate any other member, and nominations do not require a second.

Laura Byrd nominated Tom Mollet for the Office of Vice President.

The Board President asked a second and third time if there were any other nominations for Vice President. President Hester stated that if there are no further nominations, nominations for the Office of Vice President are closed. Tom Mollet being the only candidate nominated for the Office of Vice President, the chair hereby declares him elected and directs the secretary to so record in the minutes.

A voice vote was taken to declare Tom Mollet as Vice President of the Board of Education for District 3. Voting aye – all ayes. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

XII. APPOINT BOARD SECRETARY

A motion to appoint Lois Bowman as Board Secretary was made by Sara Brubacher and seconded by Steve Pickering. A voice vote was taken. Voting aye – all ayes. Voting nay – none. Motion approved. This is also a two year position as per Board Policy 2:110.

XIII. APPOINT DISTRICT TREASURER

Dr. Mahaffy stated that Mr. Bob Blumberg of Blumberg CPA has agreed to serve as Treasurer for School District 3. This term can be a one year term or a two year term as the Board pleases per Board Policy 2:110. Dr. Mahaffy’s recommendation was to make this a two year term to coincide with the other positions during reorganization. A motion to appoint Mr. Bob Blumberg as District Treasurer for a two year term was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Laura Byrd. A voice vote was taken. Voting aye – all ayes. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

XIV. APPROVE FY20 AND FY21 BOARD MEETING DATES, TIME & LOCATION

A motion to approve the FY20 and FY21 Board meeting dates, time and location as presented was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Laura Byrd. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Tom Mollet, Melissa Brennan, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm, Kristine Hester, Laura Byrd and Steve Pickering. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

XV. OLD BUSINESS

Update on Facilities Project – Dr. Mahaffy, along with Mr. Joe Bartkus of Henry Brothers and Mr. Fred Schuster of Wold Ruck-Pate presented a course of action to complete the facilities project over the next two summers. Since it was the recommendation to rebid most of the trades in the fall due to late bidding and inflated costs, there are many items that can still be done this summer to save money. With Board approval of the following changes tonight, Dr. Mahaffy recommended the following:

● Flooring (which is part of the current bid package) – the change would be that flooring will be done over two years for the same cost as if it was all done this summer.

The following items would be removed from the bid package and completed in house this summer with two additional summer helpers from previous approval. This should result in a huge savings to the district. Items include:

● Demo – mobiles, casework, wiring and wire molds, ARS 1989 ceiling tiles , boards (chalk, tack and blue) including asbestos abatement and MS flooring where asbestos abatement occurred.

● Renovation/Installation – repair and paint walls and reinstall whiteboards per the project specs., install new and refurbish casework, ceiling tile installation on 1989 side and pull wiring per project specs and relocate Wi-Fi sensors to ceiling.

● Addition to Maintenance Plan – asphalt patching where needed (will complete seal coating at both buildings summer of 2020) and sand, paint and coat middle school main gym (at this year’s price but will be done in August, 2020) so the gym can be used as a staging area until project is complete.

The following items are still occurring as originally planned:

● All academic and program changes as planned

● Furniture refresh

● Access control (key fobs and cameras) and raptor system

● All asbestos abatement (MS and ARS)

● ARS playground and PE Ninja course

● AC in the 5th grade classrooms on bridge at middle school along with mounted air movement in non-ac classrooms across district.

Mr. Joe Bartkus of Henry Brothers and Mr. Fred Schuster of Wold Ruck Pate briefly reviewed the bidding process. It was a very tough climate due to the quantity of work going on this summer and the timing of going out to bid for this project. It was hard to get any bids from any of the trades for this summer work. Some bids did come in but the numbers reflected much higher prices than what was budgeted mainly due to a material costs increase, material availability, bid climate and short schedule to do abatement. Certain bid packages were rejected due to pricing being so inflated. A few bid packages did come in within budget but it only made sense to wait to see if we could get better numbers in the fall and possibly have 8 to 10 bidders for each bid package.

Dr. Mahaffy stated that other districts are facing the same problems with bids coming in too high. We are hopeful that our project which we were hoping to complete in one year will now be completed in two years. In this initial year we are hopeful to complete some items to make the project cleaner to make the bids more favorable in the fall.

Mr. Bartkus mentioned that some of the steel and wood product prices as well as labor costs have also been increasing. The roofing portion of the general trades was nowhere near what we expected it to cost for the amount of work that needed to be done. Companies do not need the work at this time and want you to pay a premium.

Mr. Schuster added that even though it is very disappointing not to achieve the goal that we wanted to this year. There really is an opportunity to try to streamline the project with the District taking advantage of the ability to complete some projects in-house. The flooring package did come in on budget. Although we do not know what will happen with the tariffs, etc., Mr. Schuster feels there is a lot of immediate competitive pressure that will be lessened if we rebid in October or November. He is confident the costs will be less in the fall for construction to be done next summer. Dr. Mahaffy stated that the Administrative costs will decrease substantially until we start bid work in the fall. The drawings are done and the scope of the project is not changing. Only minor alterations may need to be completed on material selection and bid packaging. Mr. Miller will have his own crew to complete some projects in-house this summer.

The main item not being done this year is the addition of the new security entrance at Algonquin Road School. We will still have all the new door contacts, the key fob system and the cameras in place. The company has already agreed to come back the following spring to remove the cameras and then after construction replace them in the new addition. The exterior walls of the current library at ARS will not be completed until next summer. The old shelving will stay but the new furniture will be in place. Demolition of the sliding walls in various classrooms will be done next summer. All drops will hopefully be done this summer. The remainder of the flooring at ARS that is not in the abated part will still need to be done. The STEM space is still going in. All technology, furniture, and the curriculum that is supporting the STEM (K-8) will still happen this year. The mobiles are still being removed and music will be coming inside at ARS. Dr. Mahaffy stated that we will be very specific on what jobs have been completed over the summer and what can be pulled out of the overall bid packets in the fall.

XVI. NEW BUSINESS

Asbestos Removal Bid – Dr. Mahaffy stated that when you are abating asbestos you must have a management firm handle the bid process. The District used Aires Consulting as the management firm. Two contractors submitted bids. One came in at $172,000 and the other was for $182,500. Both prices include the base bid plus alternate 1. Dr. Mahaffy recommended the removal of all asbestos for the MS flooring and removal of all boards on the ARS 1965 side to Colfax Corporation for a total cost of $172,000.

A motion to award Asbestos Removal Bid from Colfax Corporation and Alternate 1 for a total cost of $172,000 was made by Tom Mollet and seconded by Gerry Blohm. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Melissa Brennan, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm, Kristine Hester, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering and Tom Mollet. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

Flooring Bid Package #6 including Alternate 2 and Alternate 3 -- This includes all the flooring that is part of the package as well as the MS flooring and the stair treads. We are recommending Mr. David’s Flooring at a total cost of $349,737 for this entire project. The abated areas at the MS will get flooring during the summer of 2019 and the remaining project will be completed spring/summer of 2020.

A motion to award flooring bid package #6 including Alternate 2 and Alternate 3 of 2019 additions and alterations to Mr. David’s Flooring for a total cost of $349,737 and reject all other bids from 2019 additions and alterations was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Laura Byrd. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm, Kristine Hester, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Tom Mollet and Melissa Brennan. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

Access Control Quote – Dr. Mahaffy recommended Sonitrol’s access control solution to assist in making our buildings be more secure in the first year and the cameras would be relocated to the new wing when completed in the second year. This would also put a camera outside the District office. This system will also allow us to monitor all doors. Total cost came to $43,012.

A motion to approve Access Control Quote from Sonitrol for a total of $43,012 was made by Laura Byrd and seconded by Gerry Blohm. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Gerry Blohm, Kristine Hester, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Tom Mollet, Melissa Brennan and Sara Brubacher. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

Dr. Mahaffy presented a recap of the amended summer maintenance list. The sanding, repainting and refinishing of the MS main gym floor in the amount of $25,000 was removed from the list. The estimate from Ringers to remove and demo the mobiles came to $15,000. Some of the other summer items included in the total amount are: asphalt patching, re-keying all ARS exterior classroom doors, casework per project scope, painting, and installation of all new wiring drops and relocate Wi-Fi per project specifications, etc. The maintenance list already includes one painter and six high school students for 34 days. We are adding two adults to help with the additional summer maintenance items. The amended summer maintenance list comes to $133,600.

A motion to approve the amended summer maintenance list in the amount of $133,600 was made by Tom Mollet and seconded by Steve Pickering. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Kristine Hester, Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Tom Mollet, Melissa Brennan, Sara Brubacher and Gerry Blohm. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

Changes to the 2019-20 Parent/Student Handbooks -- Dr. Mahaffy stated that on Tuesday April 9th the Joint Advisory Committee met to review the Parent/Student Handbooks, the Wellness Policy, Grants, etc. Handbook changes are either required due to new laws or court cases, highly suggested due to new laws or court cases and/or are in need of clarity and recommendations from staff and Administration.

Both the ARS and MS Parent Student Handbooks will have revisions to the cover page and table of contents, fees, dates, calendar, quarters to be changed to trimesters, supply lists and staff lists and any revisions necessitated by new laws or requirements.

Dr. Ozimek stated that the following sections in the ARS Parent/Student Handbook were either revised or rewritten: Section 2.2 – Waiver of Student Fees, Section 3.4 – Administering Medicines to Students, Section 3.9 – Safety Drill Procedures and Conduct, 5.8 – Absences and Excuses, 5.10 – Truancy, 5.11 – Lunchroom Procedures, 5.20 – Student Discipline – Grades K-4, Section 6.2 – School Visitors, Section 6.13 – Grade Reporting System and revisions to Appendix J.

Mrs. McKenzie reviewed the following sections which were either revised or rewritten: Section 2.2 – Waiver of Student Fees, Section 3.5 – Administering Medicines to Students, Section 3.9 – Safety Drill Procedures and Conduct, 5.6 – Absences and Excuses and Homework Requests due to Absences, Section 5.10 – Truancy, Section 5.11 – Lunch Period Procedures, Section 5.19 – Physical Education, Section 5.20 – Conduct Expectations, Section 6.2 – School Visitors, Section 6.11 – Grade Reporting System/Honor Roll, and revisions to Appendix B and K.

A motion to approve the changes to the 2019-2020 ARS and MS Parent/Student Handbooks as presented was made by Steve Pickering and seconded by Sara Brubacher. A roll call vote was taken. Voting aye – Laura Byrd, Steve Pickering, Tom Mollet, Melissa Brennan, Sara Brubacher, Gerry Blohm and Kristine Hester. Voting nay – none. Motion approved.

XVII. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT – None.

XVIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS -- None.

XIX. REVIEW OF ANNOUNCEMENTS, NOTICES AND COMMUNICATIONS

TO THE BOARD -- None.

XX. EXECUTIVE SESSION -- None.

XXI. ACTION FOLLOWING EXECUTIVE SESSION -- None.

XXII. ADJOURNMENT

A motion to adjourn the meeting of April 29, 2019 at 8:25 p.m. was made by Tom Mollet and seconded by Gerry Blohm. A voice vote was taken. Voting aye – All ayes. Voting nay – None. Motion approved.

https://www.dist3.org/our-district/board-of-education/board-meetings-agendas/approved-board-of-education-meeting-minutes/april-29-2019-special-meeting-approved-minutes